God translates himself

Religions were formed throughout history; in various times and in a variety of places all spread out in the world. My learning through research and discussion has lead me to believe that although these religions seem vastly different in time and place, they were not exposed to each other in time of creation but they all have similarities in beliefs, community, rituals, ethics, and relics. In class, this topic was brought up through the verse Luke 23:34, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing". In the conversation, the topic of truth arose; how all people are exposed to the truth because god gives them this knowledge, meaning that due to this statement there is a possibility that all religions are based on one god. One god but different forms of worship because of background, culture, and time period.


There are 6 major aspects of religion; belief system, sacredness, community, rituals, ethics, and relics. The most important being belief system since it is the foundation of every religion.

Christianity's belief system is based on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This belief is mainly universal but the use of terms for Jesus, God, or heaven differs. These beliefs originated from Judaism in which Christianity was formed out of. A commonality between Christianity and Judaism is Buddism having the belief in Nirvana after death, a heaven. Resting places being a crucial part of religion it is amazing to see the connection between not only Buddism but Islamic, Hinduism, and Confucianism.

The Buddist belief system is based on reincarnation and nirvana as well as Sila, Samadhi, and Prajna. Sila is one's virtues, good conduct, and morality. The well-known principle, "Do unto others as you wish them to do onto you" is introduced in this section of Buddism belief system; identical to the Christian fundamental and many other religions.
Samadhi is putting religion into practice by concentration, meditation, and mental development; doing these things makes one stronger and helps to maintain good conduct. Meditation is also referred back to Hinduism which has physical meditation called yoga. Prajna is the impact you receive from worship; discernment, insight, wisdom, and enlightenment. Wisdom in Buddism is what makes the mind pure and calm. Romans 1:18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth", this is quoted because your truth is in your heart and mind which brings you peace. For Christians, this truth is the bible, gods word.

The Confucian belief system is more based on ethical principles because it tends to take from religions like Taoism and Buddism instead of forming religious fundamentals of their own. As for Heaven, Confucians believe it is a positive personal force in the universe. The Hindu Belief for heaven is similar to this because, like a force that is not tangible, they believe it is more joining in unity with god; Moksha.

The Hindu belief system is through 4 main points. Dharma, which requires one to be faithful to god, maintaining their religious rituals and attending to family needs as well; this is to be played out in all areas of life: religion, social, and familiar. Karma is the next belief. The saying 'what comes around goes around' is the main belief in this section. Similar to "Do unto others as you wish them to do onto you", a connection to Christianity. Samsara is known as reincarnation, this idea is closer to Christianity's version of heaven (which is surprising since it is closer to the origins of Buddism). Karma refers to the actions you do on earth and how those actions decide your balance in the next life, the question 'are you genuinely pure or evil'. This heaven is referred to as Moksha, which means unity with god.

The Islamic belief system is based on there being 'one, unique, incomparable god' but Jesus is not to have existed because it is the Muslim belief that a higher power such as god would not have lowered himself to a form lower than himself: that of a bondservant. No other gods or idols are to worshiped other than the one true god is another major point. Allah is the term used for god in this setting; this is used by both Arab Muslims and Arab Christians. This surprised me.

Other than the belief in Jesus and the extraordinary activists in the Islamic religion; Christians and Muslims both have the same belief system which is surprising because they do not seem to get along.

The sacredness and community are one and the same for Christians, Buddhists, Confucists, and Hindi's. Each having a sacred place whether it be a church, temple, mosque, or living room they all gather for the same reason; to worship together. "For where two or three gathers in my name, there am I with them", Matthew 18:20, I believe god is present with these groups but in a way that is familiar to them all.

The same is true for ethics; each agrees with one another in having virtues, values, and good moral conduct although Buddhists are looser in ethics being more free-wheeling and Muslims taking ethic to a whole new level but altogether, 'what would a godly person do?' (wwgpd?) would work for them all.

Rituals in the Catholic church include Baptism; an initiation and the other seven sacraments as well as things like ash Wednesday. The Religions Buddhism, Hinduism, Islamic, and Christian are similar. Hinduism, Islamic, and Christian being more prominent because these religions have a designated god and so the process of initiation is becoming one with god but due to Buddism and Confucianism being more a right of passage.

Without excuse, god has made himself known to everyone, throughout time; even before Christ. The evidence for god is endless. My thought is that god only gives you what he knows you can handle and in this timeline of religions, the Christian stories were not exposed to those in different areas,so god gave the people their own miracles. These miracles being the basis of the religions formed and the names used for god are in different forms but he has many forms so this is understandable. The Christian God is one, unique, imcomparable god, who comes in many forms and I have come to believe that the god/gods worshiped in other religions are all connected to one true god.